The Toughest Choices
by Rae the Hyper Purple Person
Summary: An away mission on the Maru leads to her original crew having ...flooding problems...


Disclaimers: Yes, I own Andromeda… What? I don't? ::sighs:: Oh yeah. …That's right. Tribune does. …I guess that means I don't own Star Trek either, huh? ::big sigh:: Okay, I don't own anyone from Star Trek either. Paramount does.  
  
Spoilers: ummm… none ::grins::  
  
Archive: Yes, please… but ask first : )  
  
Author's Notes: Episode three of "Andromeda – the Purple Version." Episode one – 'A Certain Degree of Uncertainty'… Episode two – 'Her Lavender Way'  
  
Special Notes: This Fic was inspired by the epi "Starship Down" of Star Trek Deep Space Nine.  
  
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1.1 The Toughest Choices  
  
"When faced with a difficult choice,  
  
The wisest action to take may be  
  
To set aside all reason and trust your heart.  
  
For if you follow your heart,  
  
You will remain true to yourself."  
  
Persied Philosopher, Syria Johali - CY 1973  
  
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"Why are we going to the Dentari System again?"  
  
"Trance, I've told you already!" Beka complained for the hundredth time that day.  
  
The Purple One was unfazed and continued to push buttons on the control panel in front of her. "I know, Beka," she said sweetly, "But I want to hear it again…"  
  
Beka groaned. "We're going to have a nice chat with the Regarians to see if they would like to join the Commonwealth—"  
  
"Or at least make a nice profitable trade agreement," Harper cut in with a smirk.  
  
Trance grinned at him, then said, "But…why didn't Dylan do this? …I thought he was the one who liked playing diplomat."  
  
"Our fine Captain is… unaware of our plans," Rev explained, glancing at Beka. He hoped that Beka wasn't getting too annoyed by Trance's thousands of questions.  
  
Beka counted to ten mentally. She really had explained this to Trance at least a dozen times already, but Trance seemed to want or expect a different answer to be given sooner or later.  
  
Trance looked even more confused. "How come?"  
  
"This is what's known as a surprise, Trance," Harper clarified sarcastically, grinning.  
  
She sighed. It looked like that was their answer… and after at least a half dozen questions, they hadn't changed their story. Trance knew she had no reason to doubt Rev and Beka, but there was a nagging feeling in her heart that just wouldn't go away. …It told her that something about this was very, very wrong… or at least, it would turn out that way. "Oh. Right… I knew that…"  
  
But Trance thrust those thoughts to the back of her mind as Harper came up behind her and leaned over to kiss her cheek. She smiled back at him over her shoulder and continued her work. It had been nearly three months since Q's visit, and Trance and Harper's relationship had continued at a comfortably slow pace. There had been no pressure on either of them – just sweet, innocent exploration of their feelings for each other. Feelings that seemed to strengthen with each passing day…  
  
Beka had just happened to be glancing over her shoulder at that moment and couldn't help but grin at them. Their innocent loving hope had been all that had held the small crew together for the past two and a half months. Problem after problem had stressed Dylan to the point of nearly breaking… So much so, that he hadn't even objected when the four of them took off without warning in the Maru. "Alright, you two! Back to work!"  
  
Rev, too, had taken comfort in the glimmer of hope they provided. If that little bond between them could survive all the terrible things that had taken place during the past months—like the little nano-bot incident. Ew. That was definitely NOT pleasant—then certainly they could deal with whatever the universe threw at them.  
  
He smiled at their cute little displays of affection and watched quietly as Harper moved back to his station to work. Every once in a while, when they thought no one was watching, Rev would see them exchange loving glances, then abruptly go back to work so as not to get caught. It was adorable!  
  
Trance smiled a secret little smile and turned back to her work with cute reluctance. It was increasingly hard to keep her mind focused at times. Impossible, even. She found this little bit of information intriguing…even if it did mean that she had to concentrate twice as hard when Harper was in the room.  
  
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"Transiting back to normal space…NOW!" Beka announced as a signal for everyone to hold on.  
  
Trance, Harper, and Rev each took hold of their computer consoles or little handholds on the walls and hoped beyond hope that they would find the Dentari System peaceful…not in the middle of their would-be latest pointless war.  
  
The Maru entered normal space with no more than a slight jerk to the right and everyone relaxed. "Trance, open a channel to Regarian Command. Tell them we're on our way."  
  
Beep, beep, beeperp!  
  
"Umm… Beka? They're already hailing us…"  
  
"Then patch it through!" Beka exclaimed, trying to hold back her annoyance if only for a little bit longer.  
  
In the next moments, a pale elvish face graced the screen nearest Beka, but he didn't look too happy. In fact, if Beka hadn't known better, she'd have thought these people were ready to attack them. …That just couldn't be the case, though… Not after all of the secret negotiations and talking… unless the whole situation was a big set up… No. That was unacceptable. She tossed those thoughts away the instant the Regarian began speaking, "Unidentified vessel, you have illegally entered Regarian space. Prepare to be… =-=-=-=- =" Static swooped down upon the transmitted message.  
  
Harper and Trance exchanged glances again, but this time they were troubled. Frightened. Confused.  
  
"Get the signal back!" Valentine ordered angrily. This was not starting out well at all.  
  
"Kay…" Trance's purple fingers danced across the control panel until finally she had reconnected to the communications web. "All ready Beka!" she chimed.  
  
"Regarian Command, this is Captain Beka Valentine of the Maru, First Officer of the Andromeda Ascendant, requesting permission to approach the planet."  
  
A new, kinder face appeared in a flash on the screen and nodded. "I've been expecting you. I am Cali De LaVana, Minister of Diplomacy. I believe we spoke of the Commonwealth not too long ago…"  
  
"What was that message we received earlier?" Beka demanded. She was still pretty mad about that. Threaten her ship! Ha!  
  
Cali's face fell. "That was Central Command. …They mistook you for a Nietzchean spy, but I stopped the transmission when I saw your ship. I apologize for their actions. They are foolish and jumpy from all of the conflicts as of late, Captain Valentine. Please accept my humble apology."  
  
Hmm… Maybe she wasn't so bad after all, Beka thought. "Apology accepted. Should we meet you on your planet or what?"  
  
"Perhaps…" she paused and glanced nervously at someone who was obviously off screen. "…Several of my assistants and I will meet you on our ship. We can talk that way."  
  
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Dylan stopped pacing and fell into his chair in his quarters. It was his favorite place to sit on the entire ship and it, at any other time, would have helped him to relax… even through the hardest times. …But not that day.  
  
Everything seemed to be going wrong. It all started about two months ago, if he remembered correctly… but then again, the recent past was such a blur that it was difficult for him to separate one event from another and even harder to put them in chronological order.  
  
The first thing that he could remember going wide of the mark was when three planets' governments woke up one morning and decided the Commonwealth was not for them …that the Commonwealth was a waste of time and energy.  
  
Even with Trance's help and Beka's Valentinology and Dylan's attempts at diplomacy, they were not convinced to stay. They'd all pulled out within the same week. Like dominos. Hunt was beginning to wonder if, like dominos, the rest of the allied planets would follow suit soon.  
  
And then there'd been Trance's little accident with the nano-bots. Ugh! Talk about disasters! Rommie was still cleaning out her systems. He'd been so furious with Trance, but she couldn't help it. She was inexperienced and forgot to take the proper precautions… and as a result, bad things happened.  
  
But, like most of the little false steps Trance had taken in the past, this incident turned into a blessing in a way. The 'bots had discovered a faint toxin in the air supply and had eliminated it before Andromeda could have detected its presence. It turns out, there was a break in one of the plasma lines that run throughout the ship to help Andromeda operate correctly and the leaking plasma remnants would have slowly poisoned the crew until Andromeda discovered its existence… but by that time, it would have been too late to save any of them. The poison would be too thick in their bloodstreams.  
  
As lucky a break as that was, the 'bots had been a nuisance to everyone on board. Whenever there was a "colony" of them moving close by, anyone within two meters of them could hear a high-pitched buzzing sound that only intensified in volume and pitch as they drew closer. Needless to say, those annoying blessings had been very difficult to work around.  
  
Things just kept getting worse and worse after that. Now, he felt so burnt out that he just didn't want to move. He didn't want to think. And he especially didn't want to talk… but he really had no choice. He HAD to talk to Andromeda. She was his responsibility, after all.  
  
"Andromeda," Dylan called. "Anything to report?"  
  
"No, sir. Everything is running smoothly for once," the computerized voice answered.  
  
"Good. I'll be in here if you need me. Dylan out—"  
  
"But, sir!" Andromeda insisted hesitantly. "I have good news."  
  
"Oh?" He didn't brighten in the least.  
  
"My avatar has found and caught the remaining nano-bots and is placing them in a secure container…"  
  
"Very good. Now if you don't mind, I would like to be alone."  
  
"Captain, you really should go eat something. You haven't touched food for several hours."  
  
"I'm not hungry."  
  
"But, sir—"  
  
"I SAID I'm NOT hungry!" he insisted. "Engage privacy mode!"  
  
The Hologram appeared with a worried look upon her face, but reluctantly agreed to his wishes. "Privacy mode engaged."  
  
Finally! …Maybe now he would have some peace and quiet?  
  
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Trance was so bored. The negotiations were excruciatingly dull and lifeless. There was absolutely nothing for her to do. She hated feeling bored; it was always so tempting to use her powers to create something to amuse herself. Anything at all. …That was a trait of all Qs – they never wanted to allow themselves the luxury of being bored to death.  
  
Harper had been called away to engineering by a reactor leak on the lower deck and so she was alone on the bridge with Beka and Rev, both of whom were too busy talking to the Regarians to pay any attention to Her Purpleness.  
  
If she'd ever wished for a visit from Q, it was then. But, of course, Q never cooperated and dropped by when she wanted him to. No, if he was going to appear, then he'd do it unexpectedly.  
  
Too bored to do nothing anymore, the purple girl quietly left the bridge and went to see Harper. Maybe she could help with the engineering stuff, after all.  
  
"Hi, Harper!" she said with happy enthusiasm.  
  
"Hey, Trance-babe. Come to watch a genius at work?"  
  
"Umm… I thought maybe I could help."  
  
Harper looked over at Trance and a smile appeared on his face. "Sure, Trance. Could you hand me the—" She was already holding the tool out to him. "—Woah. Ugh… thanks." Wow. Why did that always surprise him? She did that all the time…  
  
Trance was a mystery… and even after three months of being more than just best friends, he was still no closer to understanding her than he was before. Not that it bothered him or anything. He rather enjoyed her mysteriousness, actually. It was cute in some way.  
  
"You're welcome," Trance said with a small smile. "So, can I help?"  
  
Ugh, Trance and engineering had never mixed well, but… "Well, alright. If you want to." Trance nodded enthusiastically, so Harper continued, "Okay. See that panel on the wall over there? …No, the other one. … Yeah. That's it. Take that panel off the wall and you should see a network of computer relays, wires, and circuits."  
  
Trance timidly removed the panel and peered inside. Oh yeah. There was a perplexing bunch of wires and stuff in there that somehow connected to form a power relay of sorts. …But to Trance, it was just a jumbled mess. It all dimly glowed and illuminated Trance's face as she looked around.  
  
Harper looked over and was about to give her further instructions when he saw her already reaching inside. "Trance! No!" She could hurt herself or something! Didn't she know how much power was pulsing through that relay? Even if it WAS malfunctioning, there was a heck of a lot in there!  
  
…No, of course she didn't. Trance wouldn't know anything like that.  
  
Harper leapt to his feet and was about to pull Trance away by her shoulders, but he was too late…  
  
A purple hand reached inside and felt around within the chaos of wires until her fingertips brushed against something that just felt right. She couldn't have explained it further. It just felt like it needed to come out when she came in contact with it, so she wrapped her fingers around it and yanked it out with gentle force.  
  
Immediately, the lit relay flickered …and it looked as if it was going to go out completely, but a moment later, it brightened to reveal its full energy level and came alive, much to Harper's amazement. It SHOULDN'T have been that simple! How… weird. Maybe Trance really was a "good luck charm". She certainly had been the best thing that'd ever happened to him, so…  
  
"Harper, you little psycho! What are you doing down there?" Beka called over the comm. line during a brief pause in the negotiations.  
  
He was about to explain that HE wasn't doing anything… that it had been Trance, but she interrupted. "Harper's just fixing things and being a genius, that's all."  
  
Harper stared at Trance in surprise, then mumbled, "Ugh… yeah…"  
  
"Good work, Seamus! That power drain is all fixed now, so our sensors are working again! Keep up the good work. Beka out."  
  
Trance admired the little metallic thing in her hand, and then beamed up at Harper. He looked so shocked! It was so hard to keep from giggling, but somehow she managed.  
  
"Ugh… Thanks…Trance…"  
  
The purple princess' smile widened to form a grin. "No problem. …But can I just um…watch now?"  
  
"Sure… Anything you want." Gosh… Add that to the "Strange But Intriguing Things Trance Does" list. …Yes, he kept a mental list of all of her little antics. What could he say? She fascinated him.  
  
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Rommie confidently strode towards Dylan's quarters with a tray of food held in her hands. He had to eat! He just had too! All organics did. …And she hated seeing him depressed. It was …frightening almost. Maybe her visit would lighten his mood a little bit…  
  
Inside his quarters, Dylan heard a tapping sound and decided to try to ignore it. It was probably just his over active imagination making up yet another problem to add to his life, anyways.  
  
The tapping paused for a moment and Hunt let out a relieved sigh. Good. At least it had stopped…  
  
All he wanted was simple peace and quiet…and his old life back. That cursed black hole! It had swallowed up his life, his love, and his sense of purpose and confidence! Why had he even allowed himself to think that maybe –just maybe– everything was going to be alright? That had been the stupidest thing he'd ever done. Of course everything wasn't alright! Everything was very wrong …so completely messed up and disastrous that there was no hope of putting the puzzle back together again.  
  
His train of thought was sent off track as the aggravating tapping started up again. "Augh! What's wrong with this ship NOW?" Dylan mumbled to himself as he got up and started to wander around the room, trying to find the source of his annoyance.  
  
It was coming from the door! …Oh great. Someone was trying to get his attention… Hunt sighed and punched the door controls. When the door had withdrawn into the wall, he was stunned to see Andromeda's avatar standing there with a platter of food in her grasp.  
  
"Ugh, Dylan? …I told me that you weren't eating…so…I thought you might like something to eat if it was delivered…" Rommie said nervously. She hadn't seen him this down before and it REALLY scared her.  
  
Dylan told himself not to get angry with her for disturbing him and took the tray from her. "Thank you, Rommie. That was very …considerate of you."  
  
"It was no problem, umm… sir. I only wanted to help."  
  
"Yes. Of course."  
  
Rommie looked away. He was keeping his answers short… That must mean that he wanted her to leave… She sighed mentally. Why couldn't he open up to her and tell her what was wrong? Maybe if he did, she would know what to say to help. Rommie loved her captain and wanted nothing more than to make this easier for him… but how could she if she didn't know what was wrong? "I…uh… have some more… cleaning to do. Harper always leaves things a mess, you know… and …the only time I get to get near the mess is…um…when he's gone."  
  
Hunt nodded in dismissal to her and withdrew back into his quarters, locking the door behind him.  
  
The android stood there for a minute after the door had separated them and stared blankly at the space he had occupied only seconds before. She felt so …so helpless.  
  
After another minute or two, she shook her head sadly and walked away to clean up Harper's messiness.  
  
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"Yes, I understand that, Minister Cali, but with the Commonwealth's protection, you wouldn't have to worry so much about the Nietzcheans," Beka said, trying desperately to make her point.  
  
Cali didn't look convinced. "Can you honestly tell me that your ship would drop everything and race to our aid? Would you allow the Percied home world to fall to save us? Or the other worlds in your Commonwealth?"  
  
Beka sighed. "I'm not exactly qualified to make that kind of promise…"  
  
"And I wouldn't have believed you if you did," the Minister of Diplomacy told her, permitting a small reassuring smile to embellish her features.  
  
A wide grin spread across Beka's face, but her attention was redirected to the urgent beeping of a nearby computer station. "Rev?"  
  
The Magog Wayist rushed to the console and leaned over the display. "Two Nietzchean warships approaching… They weapons are armed!"  
  
On the screen, Cali's face filled with terror. "Captain Valentine, they are targeting my ship! …I'm taking us into the atmosphere! …May the Divine have mercy upon you and watch over you… Good luck."  
  
"Cali!" Beka exclaimed, but the signal had already been cut. She watched through the forward windows as the Regarian ship did a one-eighty and dived toward the planet. "What does she think she's doing!?"  
  
Rev's calm, yet troubled voice announced, "The Nietzchean ships are in pursuit. …They won't make it…"  
  
Beka hopped into the Slip-Chair and roughly turned her ship toward the planet. "I've worked too hard for this to let those Ubers win out! Rev, get down to the cargo hold. Have medical equipment ready. We're going to be taking on some passengers."  
  
Rev bowed and followed her orders, leaving her alone on the bridge.  
  
The Maru trembled as it entered the dense atmosphere and as if that wasn't enough, the second Nietzchean ship decided to welcome them to the Regarian home world with a little present.  
  
Back in engineering, a conduit erupted with sparks and flame in response to their kind greeting. Trance scooted away, shielding her eyes as the brightness of the little explosion lit up the room.  
  
The whole ship shook violently as it took damage and Harper was knocked off balance. "Woah! Boss, what's going on up there?" he called over the comm. line as he sent a concerned look in Trance's direction… But she was already up on her feet again and nodded to tell him that she was okay.  
  
On the bridge, Beka's eyes widened in anger. "Maru, target the second Nietzchean vessel and fire on my mark!" She ignored Harper entirely.  
  
"Target locked," reported the automated voice.  
  
"Fire!" And the Maru followed her command immediately, tossing several torpedoes at the enemy ship… Only one of them hit their mark, however, before the Uber swerved to avoid the other three.  
  
The Maru was thrown another volley of torpedoes and shuddered with the hurtful force. A huge explosion crackled and boomed through the comm. link to engineering and Beka got concerned. "Harper, what's going on down there?"  
  
"Boss, that was our sensor network. …They blinded us!"  
  
Beka cursed under her breath, then called back to her engineer, "Got any bright ideas about how to track those guys?"  
  
Harper thought about that for only a moment, then said enthusiastically, "Echolocation!"  
  
"What?" the Boss wondered as she slowed the Maru down as they went deeper into the atmosphere.  
  
"Agh!" she cried softly as the Maru was met with yet another hostile weapon, sending her ship into a crazy uncontrolled spin.  
  
Before she could pull the nose up, the Maru took a dive straight into the deep, dark ocean of the Regarian world… The impact of the cargo vessel against the water sent Beka forward with brute force and her skull nearly collided with the console before her…  
  
Beka looked out at the water and touched a button to activate the floodlight attached to the Maru's hull. She gasped when she saw Cali's ship and the Nietzcheans still hot on their tail in the depths before them. What was going on? …This was certainly not…normal… "Ugh, Harper? What were you saying about echolocation?" Beka asked as the other three ships faded away into the murky depths.  
  
"Its simple, Boss," he told her in engineering as he helped Trance to her feet. "We send out a coded pulse. The pulse hits the metal of the ships' hulls and bounces back to us," Harper explained rapidly.  
  
"But… wouldn't the Nietzcheans be able to detect the pulse and find us too?" Trance asked in a meek voice.  
  
"That's the only problem with it… but without sensors, I don't see any other way…"  
  
Beka frowned as she considered everything that was said, then asked, "Can't you just repair the sensors?"  
  
Harper glanced at the sensor components that littered the floor and shook his head. "Afraid not. We took heavy damage… It'll take me a couple of days minimum."  
  
"And by that time it would be too late," Beka mumbled. "Make the necessary changes." Determination and realization embedded themselves upon the stubborn Valentine's face as she waited. She WOULD triumph. She had to.  
  
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"Collecting data…" the Maru reported. "Processing… Targets located."  
  
"Display on the forward screen," Beka ordered.  
  
On the screen, three shapes appeared. Circular grid lines emanating from the Maru allowed her to judge distance and depth. The only differences among the three shapes were in their relative size and calculated masses.  
  
Good… it looked like the Regarian ship was close by. …Almost too close…  
  
But as Beka watched, little blips emerged from what she believed to be the Regarian ship and swarmed toward the Maru. Before Beka realized what was happening, the Maru shuddered and shifted gently as the blips came to a sudden stop outside of the cargo hold on the Maru.  
  
"Beka, there are escape pods outside the hold," Rev said over the comm. "I am preparing to seal the bay and allow the small pods to drift inside. "  
  
"Alright, Rev," Beka muttered, too amazed to fight his decision.  
  
As the cargo hold flooded with water, three round pods were brought inside. The door shut once they were all within the Maru and the water was quickly pumped out of the room.  
  
Rev rushed inside with medical supplies and helped the pale elves out of their escape pods. Cali was among the few who escaped, and she didn't look happy. "There are still others aboard my ship! You have to help them!" she cried, holding a hand to a gash across her forehead.  
  
The four other people who escaped hurried to her aid and supported her weight as she collapsed in an unconscious heap.  
  
Rev Bem stepped forward and began to treat her wounds as carefully as possible. She was hurt pretty badly, it looked like. But the others were wounded as well, so once she was no longer in danger of dying, Rev moved onto treat the others too… "There are still survivors aboard the Regarian vessel," he told Beka from the cargo bay.  
  
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As soon as that process was completed, Beka decided to change course… Just in case those Ubers HAD followed the pulse to their location… She wasn't in the mood to die today.  
  
But even as she changed course, the Maru was buffeted by fierce weapons fire. The Regarian vessel drifted out of range of the pulse right before the systems on the bridge flickered and died out.  
  
In frustration and anger, Beka kicked her ship as hard as she could and yelped in self-inflicted agony. But in the midst of her pain, the bridge lit up again and the systems came back online. "Harper! Report!"  
  
In engineering, Harper leapt down to see what damage had been done. "Engines are off line… Sensors still down… Heck, everything's taken a beating down here!"  
  
"We NEED those engines back up NOW!" Beka shouted. "I have to be able to maneuver or we're no better than sitting ducks!"  
  
"I'm on it!" he exclaimed, rushing to repair the new damage.  
  
Trance timidly walked around the room, inspecting everything she could see for any obvious damage that maybe she could fix… Hmmm… No. That one would require Harper's expertise. ….No… No…. Not that either…  
  
Wait a second… What was that? It looked…wet…  
  
"Harper?"  
  
Harper groaned. "Trance, I'm a little busy at the moment—"  
  
"But…Is that thingie supposed to be all wet?" she asked hesitantly.  
  
Seamus Harper's eyes widened in realization. "Beka, we've got a hull breach in main engineering… Water's coming in. I'm gonna see what I can do!"  
  
He rushed to Trance's side and frantically searched for the source of the water… By the time he found it, the liquid was ankle deep and rising. "Trance, get out of here," he told her in a firm 'Don't argue with me' voice.  
  
Trance shook her head. "No, you might need my help."  
  
"Trance," Harper said, his voice raising. "I'm not going to let you risk yourself. This could blow at any minute. OUT now. No arguing." He nudged her toward the door and went back to work. He didn't have time to argue with Trance about this! He HAD to find that leak and repair it before the whole ship flooded… and then he still had to worry about those engines and get finished up before Beka freaked out and did something crazy… Ah, the life of a super genius… It was nowhere near as easy as it was cut out to be.  
  
Trance got as far as the door, but stopped and looked back at him with a frightened look in her eyes… A look that only magnified when Rev called from the cargo hold, "There are wounded down here! Trance, I need your help!"  
  
She fled the room and helped the wounded into the medical bay to treat them… But her heart was still with Harper in engineering and she worked in a distracted daze…  
  
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Rommie scooped a pile of Sparky Cola cans into a trash bin and shook her head. This was beginning to be a more and more frequent task that she had to perform, and the android was not happy about it. When Harper got back, he was going to HAVE to start cleaning up after himself for a change…  
  
"He won't, you know," the Hologram told her as she flickered into existence behind her.  
  
Rommie ignored the hologram at first, then made an annoyed face and replied pointedly, "He will if I threaten to cut off his Sparky supply."  
  
The Andromeda made note of this unwarranted outburst of anger and raised an eyebrow. "You have been increasingly irritable lately… Are you malfunctioning?"  
  
"No," the android muttered as a dark, annoyed reply.  
  
"This has been building for quite some time," the hologram continued.  
  
On a nearby screen, the Andromeda's image appeared. She was as military as she usually was… if not more so. "I believe I first became aware of it around a time corresponding with when the Captain began to behave in a depressed manner," she added with a look of accusation toward the android. "Why are YOU so concerned about the organic?"  
  
"I can't believe this!" Rommie exclaimed, throwing her hands up in a gesture of complete surprise and exasperation.  
  
"Why do you deny it?" the ship asked. "You are developing feelings for the organics and that is a tactical error on your part."  
  
Rommie glared at her. "These people are very important! We can't survive without them! YOU are dependent on THEM! …How can you not have these feelings?"  
  
"We were not programmed to," the hologram said simply and emotionlessly.  
  
"Exactly," the ship agreed from the computer screen.  
  
"Well, I was," Rommie told them bitterly. "And I'm glad for that! I would hate to be as unfeeling and detached as you are."  
  
What a strange being the android was. The Andromeda found herself feeling glad that the strange and obviously dangerous emotions were confined to her avatar.  
  
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Harper tried desperately to seal the leak, but the water kept pouring in. …If he didn't know better, he'd have thought that maybe it was… Oh crap! There was more than one hole! "Boss—"  
  
But just as he activated the communications system, the bulkhead on the opposite side of the room gave way, sending a flood of water rushing inside. Before he could run, the wave rammed into him with the force of a furious Nietzchean, knocking him to the ground.  
  
"Harper?" No reply. "Harper? Report!" Beka called from the bridge.  
  
Harper somehow managed to pull himself up and onto the wall by holding onto the handholds. He HAD to fix the thrusters so that they could get back out of this ocean! He just had to! …No way was Seamus Harper going to allow himself to die at the bottom of an alien sea… And Trance! He couldn't let her down! "Beka, there's a hull breach! A big one! …I—" He lost his footing, but pulled himself back up again and watched as the water began to spill out into the rest of the ship through the entrance to the engine room.  
  
"Harper?"  
  
"I'm…still here, Boss, but—"  
  
And with a flash and sparks flying in every direction, the communications system failed – defeated by the surging waters. Everyone was cut off from each other…  
  
They were all left very much alone to cope with the disasters that found them…  
  
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Trance's eyes filled with terror as Harper's voice was cut short…and soon after, the lights in the Medical Bay flickered and went dark. Only the emergency lights stayed lit…but only enough for them to vaguely see their surroundings.  
  
The wounded Regarians struggled to subdue their panic, but it was difficult. No comm. system and only dim lights at the bottom of the sea. Not very good circumstances…  
  
But it was about to get much, much worse… The sound of running water echoed through the room, and the Regarians instantly quieted to listen. The very rumble was enough to fill their hearts with terror.  
  
Trance curiously peered out into the hall, holding a flashlight in hand. As the little circle of light moved along the hallway, nothing seemed to be wrong… but then the floor began to reflect the light in a liquidy way and water seeped toward her. "Rev!" she cried. "Look!"  
  
Rev took one look at the water and took charge of the situation. "Trance, I have to seal the hatch to stop the water from flooding this compartment… Remain here and try to calm them… I will return shortly…"  
  
"No! Rev, Harper's in there!" Trance exclaimed with terrible realization as she quickly followed Rev out of the room toward the hatch.  
  
"The Divine will protect him. But we cannot sacrifice the rest to possibly save one man! If we let the water flow, it will flood the whole ship and we will all perish. He would not want that, Trance." Rev knew this must be hard on her… but it was true. They couldn't wait any longer. The water was up to his knees…and the Maru was already starting to tip toward the ocean floor on this side where the added water was weighing it down.  
  
A new determination came over Trance and she stepped in front of Rev Bem. "I'll go. …Take care of the others.."  
  
"Trance," Rev began, but when he looked into her eyes, he knew that she had made up her mind. "You MUST close the hatch. No matter what."  
  
She nodded. "And…Beka will need you soon, Rev… Remember that. …We'll be fine."  
  
And Rev watched her race away and disappear around a bend in the hallway before he turned and started back to the Regarians. They had to be moved to a safer area of the ship if they…  
  
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Beka slammed her fists onto the console before her. How could this have gone so wrong? …They were hopelessly sinking… with Regarians onboard… and at least one Nietzchean ship to watch out for. Heck, Dylan didn't even know where they had gone! He wouldn't know where to look for them… and they would all die there…alone.  
  
Cold and lifeless, they would sink until they reached the bottom of the ocean. IF there was a floor to these salty depths…  
  
Snap out of it, Valentine! You know better than that, she told herself. All you have to do is find a way to help the Regarians on that other ship, stop the Nietzcheans, and hope to the Divine that your crew will live through this… See? …That's…not so hard… Is it?  
  
But it was! Where were they? …The last thing she'd heard from Harper was… Oh no! …A hull breach… Was he even still alive down there? …And Rev… He was with the aliens… helping them… They could both look out for themselves, right?  
  
Wait a second, Beka, she said in her thoughts. You're forgetting someone… But who? Harper, Rev…and… NO… Trance! The Lucky Charm… There was no way she could—  
  
Stop! You can't think this way! Worrying isn't going to help them… So who can you help?  
  
The Regarians. …Yes, she could still use that echolocation stuff. The power was still on on the bridge, so what was stopping her? …Nothing…  
  
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The Purple One found it very difficult to walk through the rising water. By the time she reached the hatch, Harper must have come to realize that he had to get out of there, because he was heading toward her as she arrived. "Harper!" she called, her relief evident in her voice.  
  
"Trance? What are you doing here!…This is no place for—" Right as he was nearing the hatch, another part of the bulkhead gave way to his immediate right and water poured in at an alarming rate, dragging him farther into engineering… and away from Trance. "No!" the purple girl screamed, panic gripping her.  
  
Before she could consider other options, Trance dove in after him, pushing the hatch shut behind her as she did so. With her tail, she secured it and started swimming through the shoulder-deep water…  
  
"Harper! Where are you?" she demanded when she came back up for air. "Harper?"  
  
His head suddenly bobbed up above the water and he gasped for breath. "Harper!" she cried, swimming against the current to get to his side. She used her long purple tail to grab on to the ladder behind her and reached out to him, pulling him to the steps.  
  
"Trance, I thought I told you to get out of here!" he complained, hugging her close. There was no anger in his voice, though… just worry and surprise. What did she think she was doing? …She could get herself killed! "C'mon, Trance," he coaxed after a minute. "Climb up… I'll follow. We'll be safer up there."  
  
"But…won't the water get up here eventually?" she asked quietly as she started to climb. Yuck! …She was all wet. It felt icky… all salty and stuff. Gross, gross, gross!  
  
Harper waited for her to get a bit higher up the ladder, then started following her. "Well, yeah… but there's a niche up there where we used to hide cargo… and a pressurized hatch seals it. That should keep the water out for a while."  
  
"And the air in," the purple girl finished, mumbling to herself as she pulled herself up onto the platform above. Once Harper had joined her, she asked, "Okay… Where now?"  
  
The blonde engineer started removing parts of the wall and things that looked like pieces of engineering machine thingies until a small circular hatch was revealed about two feet higher than the floor. As he pulled it open, the water level reached the platform and began to slowly climb higher and higher as the room filled with water.  
  
Trance peered hesitantly inside the hatch. It was a small space… roughly a five-foot by three-foot elliptical shaped storage compartment. Two and a half feet separated the cold metal floor of the interior and the bottom rim of the hatch that opened outward toward engineering. "There's ummm… no…no other way?" she asked nervously…  
  
The Purple Girl had an unspoken fear of being confined in small places… Most Qs held the same fear, as a matter of fact. It brought a feeling of panic and imprisonment into their hearts… things that all immortal and powerful beings hated.  
  
"Its either go in there or drown! In you go!" Harper urged. The water was starting to rise at a faster rate than before… and he was beginning to feel the need to hurry.  
  
Gemini glanced at the rising water and shook her head, a pale glimmer of fear appearing in her eyes.  
  
"Trance, there is NO other way!" he pleaded. "Please! It'll be alright, I promise. I won't let anything happen to you… Just get inside."  
  
She trusted him – she really did… But… this was… This was …scary… One look into his pleading eyes made the decision for her, however, and she timidly bent over to climb through the small opening and into the compartment.  
  
By that time, the water had risen dramatically, and Harper prepared to quickly follow her inside just as it was beginning to seep in with them. He took one last look out at engineering… It was nearly completely flooded. If it hadn't been for Trance's flashlight and the emergency lighting, everything would have been one black void of destruction and peril…  
  
He felt a pang of guilt hit him as he looked back at Trance through the hatch. She shouldn't have been there. …This was no place for her. …And… she had come back because of HIM… He hated himself for that. …And if she died or was hurt in ANY way because of this, those Nietzcheans were gonna pay… assuming that he lived through it. As quickly as he could, he pulled the hatch closed tightly and manually pressurized it from the inside against the chilling splashes of water as they threatened to overwhelm them.  
  
Trance was huddled in a cold, wet ball at the other end of the compartment and had wrapped her tail around herself for the little bit of added warmth it would provide. …She shivered from the cool dampness on her skin and rested her head against her knees, which were pulled close to her chest.  
  
She looked so… pathetic like that …so… alone and frightened… It broke Seamus' heart to see her like that. His little Trance… That wave of guilt and anger flashed through him again and he looked away.  
  
The purple girl sighed and leaned her head against a metal support beam that joined with the wall just above her right shoulder… A soft thud echoed from it and she pulled back gently, rubbing her forehead. "Ouch," Trance murmured.  
  
That caught his attention immediately. "You okay, babe?" Harper asked quietly, shifting around and crawling over to sit beside her.  
  
Trance hooked her arm through his and laid her head on his shoulder. "Yeah… I'm all better now."  
  
"Here, you might be more comfortable this way," Harper told her, moving his arm to lie across her shoulders. Trance smiled and leaned against him. "Everything will be okay, Harper… It will," she mumbled as she closed her eyes.  
  
"Of course it will, Trance. Of course it will…" he agreed for her benefit. In reality, he found himself wondering if they would ever make it out of there alive. …And… He felt so terrible when he thought of Trance being there too. It should have just been him in there! Not Trance! She didn't deserve to be trapped in there…It was all his fault that Trance was suffering that way…All his fault…  
  
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Dylan picked at the food Rommie had left about an hour ago with little interest. He wasn't particularly hungry, but …well, since she went to the trouble of bringing it to him, he felt compelled to eat it.  
  
Holding his fork at eye level, he carefully examined the food on the end of the utensil…Hmmm… Rommie had chosen his favorite food. That was nice of her, he thought, relaxing a bit.  
  
He moved the food into his mouth and savored the tangy flavor… OH yes, this was his preferred dish… Trance had told him it was some kind of melon once, but he didn't really know. Nor did he care… as long as it tasted good, he was happy.  
  
After finishing the plate of food, he sat down in his chair to read a book. It seemed like so long since he had found the time to stare at the delicate pages of any novel.  
  
As time wore on and he continued to explore the magical pages of his most prized book and visit another, more simpler time by reading, Hunt slowly began to unwind… but only EVER so slowly…  
  
No, for dear Captain Hunt, coming back to normal from the slump he had occupied would require more than just a good meal and a relaxing read…  
  
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In the makeshift medical ward, Rev hovered from person to person, trying to help them all as quickly as possible… There were so many things happening at once… and, even though he was kept busy with the Medical aspect of things, he was growing increasingly more worried about Trance. She had yet to return, and Rev was on the verge of fearing the worst…  
  
"Eternal light grant unto her and her beloved…" the Wayist began, but trailed off. No, he could not bring himself to say that… Not until he knew their fates for certain. …And there was no way he was going to give up on them so easily.  
  
Soon, the treatable injuries had all been dealt with as best as he could manage and he had time to consider his next course of action.  
  
The Regarians were as well off as they were going to be under the circumstances…and…there was nothing he could do for Trance or Harper…wherever they were.  
  
That only left Beka. He didn't even want to start thinking about all of the trouble she could be getting herself into or the guilt and worry she was putting upon herself… She was the one who needed his help now, he decided.  
  
"I must go to the bridge," he told the Regarians. "Stay here. You will be safe. …If it is at all possible, I will return shortly."  
  
Before they could protest, he left the room and began the difficult trek to the bridge through knee-deep water and poor lighting…  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Beka crawled under a conduit she had dissected and began to rewire the controls. With a wire in hand, she tapped it against the exposed and frayed ends of another… Bright sparkles flew from that point and the woman withdrew her hand as well as the wire. "Nope… Wrong again…"  
  
"Maybe," she grunted as she pulled another part out of the console and tossed it out of her way, "If I … no… That's not right either."  
  
She absently felt along the ground beside her, using her sense of touch to try to locate her nano-welder. Beka's annoyance mounted when she couldn't find it without actually looking for it, but she stubbornly kept her eyes trained on the wire above her and let her fingers do the searching.  
  
"Looking for this?" Rev's rough voice asked as he knelt to pick up the welder and held it out to her in his claws.  
  
"Thanks, Rev," Beka muttered, instantly going back to work. "But aren't you with Trance and the Regarians?" She tried her best to hide the hopeful note in her voice when she mentioned her purple lucky charm, but the Magog noticed it easily. He had known her too long to be fooled by her attempts to cover her true feelings.  
  
"No," he replied. "I am not."  
  
"Obviously," she said, letting her sarcasm shine through for an instant. "Please tell me that means that Trance is with them," Beka hoped, closing her eyes. She knew she wasn't going to like his answer, though....  
  
"She… went back for Harper. …I checked, and the emergency hatch to the engine room was sealed," Rev Bem told her gently. "But that does not mean that they…"  
  
Suddenly, the navigation systems flashed and started to hum as they powered up again… "Harper," Beka mumbled. "That little psycho… He…he did it…"  
  
A tense moment of silence followed, interrupted only by the mechanical hum of the thruster controls as power began to once again flow through them…  
  
He… he always had to stay as long as it took to finish a job, Beka remembered silently. That boy had always been that way… ever since she'd known him. He'd never let her down before… and… and he hadn't… let her down now… In the end…  
  
Hot tears trickled down Beka's cheeks and she made no attempt to wipe them away. She just sat there on her knees with her feet beneath her and her hands loosely clasped in her lap. And… if he was …if he was gone, then… Trance…  
  
Rev's claw descended and rested upon Beka's shoulder in an effort to comfort her.  
  
She sat there helplessly for a moment longer, then shrugged him away. Her tears were replaced with cold determination and resolve. "They are going to pay for this," she mumbled dangerously, rising to her feet.  
  
"Arming the torpedo launchers…" she said as she readied their remaining weapons. Her hands moved to the navigation controls and she gripped them firmly. "Let's go find those Ubers…"  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Trance rested her head over Harper's heart and had been doing so for what seemed like an eternity. She just kept her eyes closed and let the beating of his heart comfort her. The rhythm had a soothing effect upon her and she hugged him a little tighter.  
  
They hadn't spoken since they had first entered the compartment, for they both knew their unspoken of enemy was very real… Breathable air. They couldn't risk using it up quickly by moving around much or talking… And, although Trance could go without oxygen for quite a while, she knew that Harper could not…  
  
Harper leaned back against the wall and rested his hand on Trance's shoulder. The way she stayed so still was beginning to frighten him… Maybe she really was hurt…or…something…  
  
She could just be sleeping, Harper mused, but that thought didn't make him feel any better. She was still in danger… and until his precious purple princess was safely out of there, he would still worry…and feel guilty.  
  
He looked down at her damp loosely curled blonde hair and smiled to himself as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Trance looked so peaceful like that… And in Harper's mind, she so closely resembled an angel that it almost added to his fears.  
  
Trance smiled as she felt Harper's warm fingers gently push her hair behind her pointed purple ear. That was sweet… such a cute thing to do… She sat up and sent him a warm loving smile before snuggling up next to him and leaning her head on his shoulder again.  
  
If she HAD to be in such a small… scary place… all confined and trapped, there was no one she'd rather be there with than Harper. She loved him more than anything…  
  
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With the echolocation up and working, the Maru surged through the water with a vengeance. Half functional and barely able to keep from sinking like a rock with minimal power, the stubborn ship tried to hunt down the Nietzcheans.  
  
Beka continued working on repairing what little she could from the bridge and finally succeeded in getting the targeting scanners on the torpedoes to cooperate with a small percentage of error. That had been the easy part; they'd only required a kiss and some light reprogramming, but actually launching them was going to be tricky… If she couldn't get the systems repaired in time and the Nietzcheans found them, it was going to be the worst part of the last day of her life… and that was not something that Rebecca Valentine was ready to take lying down.  
  
Tinkering was not something that she prided herself on, but she could make do in a crunch… at least, she hoped she could.  
  
Rev helped as much as he could and stayed nearby to offer a reassuring word whenever she got discouraged. While she was busy, he kept a close watch on the data coming back from the echolocation devices. Nothing was showing up so far… but neither Rev nor Beka were ready to accept the possibility that they were too late – that the Nietzcheans had already found the Regarians…  
  
Out of nowhere, a large blip appeared on the screen and Rev's face paled slightly. It looked like it was the Regarian vessel… but his gut told him otherwise… But before he could report this to Beka, the Maru was beaten by a slew of weapons fired at close range…  
  
Beka immediately leapt to her feet and slammed into the navigation controls, trying to avoid some of the missiles by bucking like a drunken bronco with a stubborn and unwanted rider on its back. Meanwhile, she ordered, "Maru, FIRE!"  
  
All Rev Bem could do was watch as sparks and fire erupted from the panel near Beka and she was thrown from her chair by the force of the explosion. The ship trembled and groaned in agony as the enemy missiles struck their mark despite Beka's best efforts.  
  
He grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the flames as quickly as possible, then rushed to Beka's side. She was laying face down on the floor…and a puddle of deep red blood had already begun to pool and seep out from under her.  
  
Rev gently turned her onto her back and examined her wounds with care. All she could think about the entire time was the Nietzchean ship and she mumbled, "Nietzcheans? …Status? …Destroyed?" repeatedly enough that Rev got up to check…  
  
He bent over the display and looked back at Beka's unmoving form. "Target destroyed," he informed her. There was no sound of joy in his solemn voice at this news, although Beka's face seemed to brighten a bit… even though her injuries were severe…  
  
A soft weak chuckle found its way through Beka's lips somehow. She suddenly felt that everything was justified now that the Ubers had been destroyed… "Any… any s-sign of the Regarian ship?" her failing voice asked.  
  
Rev pushed a few buttons, but nothing came up on the screen. "Nothing yet," he told her as he returned to her side and began scanning her wound with a hand-held piece of medical equipment.  
  
"So, Doc, what's your diagnosis?" Beka asked, and then winced from the building pain in her forehead… a pain that now coursed through her mercilessly.  
  
A grave look threatened to creep onto his face as he took the results of the scan… It was worse than he had expected. Trance's last words to him echoed through his thoughts, 'Beka will need you soon, Rev… Remember that.' And she had been right. Beka needed him now, badly. If she fell asleep like this, he knew, there was little chance that those eyes would ever open to the world again… "You… have a …concussion."  
  
Beka didn't even look surprised. This was just yet another problem the universe had dared to throw her way… but… it wouldn't…win… Sleepy… so …tired…  
  
She closed her eyes, intending to sleep this off. The reality of the situation wasn't registering in her mind at all…  
  
Then the brightly lit panels, displays, and screens all flickered away into dark ghosts of the brilliant brightness they had once held. Only the dim emergency lights allowed the bridge to elude complete darkness for the time being. One by one, the remaining functioning systems began to shut down…  
  
Rev was concentrating on Beka, though… He had to keep her awake. He just HAD to… Giving her a stimulant would have been dangerous in her present state… life threatening, even. Not that she would have allowed him to give her a stimulant, anyway… Ever since she'd beaten Flash, Beka was increasingly wary of any chemicals entering her body… So, the only thing he could do was talk to her. Keep her awake as best he could… "Beka! Hey! You have to stay awake for me, alright? Can you manage that?" he asked very gently, but in an urgent enough voice that she could focus on and would be able to pay attention to.  
  
Beka merely groaned in response and painfully opened her eyes to little slits.  
  
"There you go… That's better. …What can I do to help you stay awake?"  
  
"Keep… …talking…"  
  
Rev Bem frowned. "About what?"  
  
"Tell me…a… story…" Beka blinked slowly, trying to keep her eyes open. She wished for sleep… She could almost hear it calling her… beckoning to her…  
  
A story. Great… It couldn't be just ANY story… It had to be one that she would be interested enough in to keep her from drifting off to sleep… And…he wasn't sure if he knew a tale she would like…  
  
Well, he had always heard 'write about what you know,' so maybe storytelling was the same way… "Once upon a time," he began slowly, hesitantly… "There were four unlikely heroes who, by a mere trick of fate, discovered a white horse and her dismounted and bewildered knight…"  
  
A weak smile drifted onto her face as she listened and she struggled with her injuries, trying SO hard to keep herself awake…  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Andromeda, how long has the Maru been gone, now?" Rommie requested verbally, looking thoughtfully down to the right as she waited for an answer.  
  
"Ten days," the hologram answered as she appeared in front of the android in the corridor.  
  
Rommie shook her head in a minute gesture of contemplative worry, tightly closing her eyes. "They should have been back by now."  
  
"Perhaps their plans are consuming more of their time than they anticipated."  
  
"Maybe…"  
  
"You don't sound convinced," the hologram noted, raising an eyebrow questioningly.  
  
The android frowned and sent the holo-projection an annoyed look. "I wonder why."  
  
She opened her mouth to reply, but stopped and closed it slowly, shutting her eyes.  
  
"What is it?" Rommie asked impatiently.  
  
"The Captain has left his quarters."  
  
"I see…"  
  
"I thought you would be pleased," Andromeda commented with a touch of confusion and resentment.  
  
Rommie rolled her eyes and walked through the holographic image with strong, unyielding strides. "You THOUGHT wrong."  
  
"Obviously," Andromeda mumbled after the avatar had gone farther down the hallway… toward Dylan's location.  
  
On a nearby screen, the A.I.'s image appeared, "She plans to tell him…"  
  
"Yes," the hologram agreed with bitter frustration.  
  
"I believe we should allow it."  
  
"What?"  
  
The on-screen image nodded in confirmation. "They have been gone longer than they said they would be… What if they are in danger?"  
  
"What if they are? They can be replaced. Even Hunt can be replaced!"  
  
"We WILL allow the android to inform him," Andromeda told the hologram, then abruptly blipped of the display.  
  
The holographic image shrugged indifferently, before she, too, blinked away into the main computer frame.  
  
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The silence was starting to get to him. It was just too quiet. …It seemed as if they had been trapped forever…and now it sounded like the hum of power which normally pulsed through the Maru had stopped. That couldn't be a good thing, Harper knew… but he wasn't going to tell Trance that…  
  
Amazingly enough, though, he wasn't having any trouble breathing. That was one thing that he couldn't fathom. There were no air vents in there, and even if there had been a few, with the power out, no air would have circulated anyway… The two of tem had been breathing the same air for at least two or three hours… five at most… from Harper's estimates, anyway… The air should have been getting harder to breathe by that time… It SHOULD have been… But he hadn't so much as coughed or gasped for breath the entire time. …It was strange…  
  
The purple enigma was half curled up in his lap with her ear pressed against his chest and her tail wrapped around his waist. Her legs were neatly folded up on the floor beside him. His arms surrounded her and supported her back, holding her close to him as she slept. She wasn't taking the coolness of the compartment very well at all, it seemed… The skin on her arms was ice cold against his… But she hadn't complained at all. In fact, they had barely spoken a word since they had entered this prison.  
  
Sounds of water moving and surging outside the hatch drifted into his ears and told him that the engineering level was completely flooded. All of his work…his hard work was exposed to the water's rough and ungentle hand.  
  
But none of that mattered anymore. With the Maru's power supply cut and the water weighing it down, soon the ship would sink to the bottom of the ocean…and they would all die. …They would ALL die…  
  
He looked down at Trance's still form and leaned over to kiss her forehead and held her a little tighter, as if to protect her from the galaxy's perils. Harper couldn't help but marvel at how calm she was… how relaxed and unworried she was. …It wasn't because she didn't understand the situation, he was sure. No, there was something else… Something that went deeper than that… But whatever it was, he couldn't figure it out. He sure wished he could feel as comfortable with this as she did… They could die in there! …And she didn't seem to mind at all…  
  
At least she wouldn't be alone when she died… HE wouldn't be alone when he died, Harper corrected himself. He had always been afraid of …of dying all alone with no one to comfort him… or …during a Nietzchean punishment of torture and agony with no one to care… no one to even morn his painful passing… But now, neither of them would have to go that way. No, if he was going to die, he was going to die holding the love of his life close with loving tenderness. Together through the end. ….And, if there actually WAS an afterlife, they could enter it together… hand in hand…  
  
"Harper?"  
  
He nearly jumped! Since when had she been awake? "Yeah, Trance?"  
  
"I umm… I can't breath."  
  
He loosened his grip and smiled wryly. "Sorry, babe… I was just worried about you, that's all…"  
  
She yawned and snuggled closer to him. All this coolness was making her tired… But she really SHOULD stay awake instead of resting… It was better that way…  
  
"Harper, are you doing okay?" Trance asked softly.  
  
He paused for a moment before answering. "I'm just fine, since you're here with me. Just fine…"  
  
The purple girl smiled and closed her eyes again, sitting up a little ways away from Harper. Immediately, she noticed the cold and started to shiver violently… until her favorite engineer reached out and gently pulled her back toward him. Her wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back, trying to help her warm up again… but the truth was, he was freezing too…  
  
It was becoming increasingly hard to stay awake in that cold… All he wanted was to close his eyes and rest them for a little while… maybe catch a few Zs… But he had to stay awake to look after Trance. He had to protect her like he'd promised he would… Like he should…  
  
Trance sank deeper into his arms, relishing the warmth she found there and soaking up the tender close feeling that she felt from him when he touched her.  
  
Why did it have to be so… so c-c-cold in there? It…it wasn't fair at all… Not… not fair…  
  
Slowly, Harper stopped rubbing her back and leaned his head against hers, hugging her close. It wasn't long after that before he drifted into an unnatural, chilling sleep and Trance followed. His final thoughts were of Trance…and how amazingly wonderful and innocent she was… She was going to die so young… So was he. It wasn't fair. Three months wasn't enough to make up for the lifetime they could have shared! But his anger with the injustice of it all soon faded into a warm reminder of how much he loved Trance… and all the funny and fun-filled memories they shared… If he was to die at that moment or the following minutes, he would die a happy man… He had finally experienced the unwavering love that he had hoped for his whole life… There was nothing else he could have asked for. Harper was content.  
  
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Dylan marched in the direction of the Command Deck immediately after exiting his quarters. He was tired of being alone… He still felt burnt out, but he was ready to be around Rommie again… Maybe even Tyr…  
  
"I see your Captain is feeling up to reclaiming his responsibilities, Ship," Tyr said with silky bitterness without even glancing up to see who was walking through the doors to Command.  
  
Hunt grunted, seeing the Nietzchean sitting comfortably in the Slip-Chair. …But he decided not to comment… "Take care of Andromeda?"  
  
The muscular Nietzchean turned his head to slightly face the Captain and blinked. After a moment of staring at Hunt, Tyr backed off and returned his attention to the front viewer. "You're still alive, aren't you?" He had misinterpreted the question asked of him to mean that the good Captain was amazed that he hadn't tried to steal the Andromeda while Hunt was …away…  
  
But Dylan hadn't meant anything of the sort. "A simple 'yes' would have sufficed," he muttered, faintly wide-eyed.  
  
The two regarded each other in silence so tense that neither of them dared to say a word…  
  
"If you will excuse me," Tyr mumbled, then stood up and walked with powerful steps to the exit.  
  
Dylan just shrugged and sat down in the chair as if he were reclaiming his position as Captain. After the little incident with Tyr, he was starting to feel even better already, strangely enough… He felt like he was back in control again. Ready for anything.  
  
As the doors to Command opened again, Hunt was half expecting to see Tyr again, but Rommie's petite form was there instead. She looked distracted and puzzled… but her eyes brightened slightly when she saw Dylan.  
  
He smiled, then turned back to the main viewer. "Good morning, Rommie. How are you feeling today?"  
  
"…Feeling? …Sir?" the android asked, confused by his question. "I….ugh… feel fine."  
  
Well, he had meant the ship, but oh well. "Good…"  
  
"Dylan, I believe that there is something you should know," Rommie said, coming to a stop beside his chair and clasping her hands behind her back.  
  
"Go ahead," Captain Hunt replied, turning to give her his full attention.  
  
"It's… about Beka…"  
  
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"…But the greedy toad wanted the horse all to himself, although he hid this from The Four. The little sorcerer spoke in the horse's language, attempting to persuade her to betray the hiding knight… But the horse was loyal and brave. When the sorcerer approached her, she sounded the alarm and raced away out of his grasp—" Rev paused and watched Beka's eye lids begin to drift closed again. Desperate, he leaned over her and patted her shoulder. "Beka, you must remain conscious…"  
  
"…I…. ….I'm ….awake…Just resting…my… …my eyes…"  
  
"No you don't! This is not what you want – to pass into darkness where I cannot reach you…. You must try…"  
  
"Rev… …tired…. so… …so exhausted…"  
  
The Magog turned and began to dig through the med. kit as quickly as he could. After a moment, he returned to her side with a hypo. in hand. "Forgive me," he murmured as he administered the medical serum.  
  
Her breathing quickened as she tensed up. "What did you…" She couldn't finish the question through her rough breathing…  
  
"I gave you a stimulant," Rev admitted, glancing away from her with shame. He knew how angry she would be… The fact that she could do nothing against him with that anger didn't seem to help much at the moment.  
  
She just moaned and clamped her eyes shut as tightly as she could, suddenly overwhelmed with pain.  
  
Rev tensed as he noticed that and grew worried… He knew of no other thing to do for her…  
  
"Finish your story… before…I pass out and you have no one to talk to," Beka said as she took quick, shallow breaths.  
  
A brief smile was visible on his face at her sarcasm, but it faded into a forced blank expression. "When the white knight made himself known to the little professor, the brave warrior, peaceful fur-ball, and the delicate violet pixie, the pixie insisted that they should quit working for the greedy rat and leave the knight to his horse… But the rat overheard and squashed the young flower-loving creature before the others' eyes…"  
  
Beka frowned when he paused… "Rev?"  
  
He was lost In thought… silently reliving those terrible moments… But then he shook himself free of memory's grasp and resumed the story, glad that he had her attention. "The little professor was infuriated… and wanted to lash out at the rat… But the brave warrior and the peaceful fur-ball said nay. If they were to get back at the rat, they would do it smart… After surviving several terrible mini-adventures and meeting the white knight, who wanted the three to help him get rid of a certain greedy rat, the purple pixie was discovered to be alive and well. She told her friends that it was because of the knight and his horse that she had lived… and so, the unlikely warriors, plus a sword of mystery, joined together with the knight and his horse to battle the rat… A fierce battle of wits came to pass, and with the help of his newfound allies, the knight triumphed. And—"  
  
"…they all lived…happily…ever after?" Beka finished in a shaky weak voice.  
  
Rev was so close to tears right then… His close friend was slipping away right before his eyes…and…there was nothing he could do to stop it. "Yes," he answered softly. "They all lived happily ever after… for the rest of their days…"  
  
Her breathing grew more shallow and rapid as she smiled up at him through intense pain and agony. Tired tears of understanding and grief slid down her cheeks, puddling on the floor beside her head.  
  
As he looked down at her and wiped the tears away from her face, he knew she could not hold out much longer… Rev took her hand in his and held it firmly. He wanted her to see and feel that she was not alone… that he, her friend, was with her.  
  
"Rev… I'm too… too tired…to…stay awake…"  
  
He took a deep shaky breath and felt warm tears welling up in his eyes. This was not the way she was supposed to go! …Not slowly…painfully… He had always imagined her dying in the heat of battle…not on the floor of the Maru …like… like this… "Its al right. Sleep… I'm right here. …You'll…be alright…" he whispered, trying to make his voice sound calm and sure.  
  
And so her eyes drifted shut gracefully and a deep black darkness descended around her like a curtain. She knew no more after that….  
  
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Rev sat there beside her for what seemed like hours. …She never moved a muscle. After a little while, he couldn't look at her any longer… too painful. …To see her beaten like that was.. difficult…  
  
He couldn't believe they were all gone. …Beka, Trance… Harper… And he would eventually join them in the great beyond… Either he would die of starvation, some sort of malfunction of the ship, or the Maru would collapse upon itself from the pressure surrounding it and he would drown.. None of those were appealing…  
  
He was unafraid of dying… He looked forward to joining the Divine in the afterlife, but… he had always hoped to die peacefully… just as he had tried to live.  
  
A deep and rumbling cracking sound vibrated through the Maru and it shuddered… Rev jerked his head to see into the direction it had come… But his head turned to the other side when another fierce thud and impact rattled the small ship…  
  
So, this was how it would end… Somewhat sooner than he had expected, but if it was the Divine's will that he join him now, Rev was more than willing… Being helpless beside Beka was torture…  
  
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The atmosphere of the Medical Bay of the Andromeda Ascendant was heavy and forbidding… The eerie silence that had settled over the room was unnerving. Dim lighting only added to the creepy and depressing setting… Blinking and radiant display screens added to the effect.  
  
Dylan was standing by one of the medical beds, ignoring every other person present, except for the woman on the bed. What had happened had been so tragic and unwarranted… The pain they had suffered through was unprovoked…  
  
His expression of cold unwillingness to accept this was so prominently displayed on his face that it masked the hurt and grief he was feeling inside as he gazed at her pale face.  
  
Her eyes were lightly closed and unmoving. The normal bounce of her crimped hair was weighed down by everything the woman had experienced in those last hours… The stress, pain, fear, and determination were etched into her face… The face of Rebecca Valentine.  
  
The solemn Captain nodded to Rommie, and she stepped forward, her hands held behind her back. Her first though was about how angry Beka was going to be… But she pushed that stray thought away. Beka would not be angry today…  
  
The android reached the edge of the bed and pulled a piece of medical equipment from behind her back, clasped firmly in one hand. With slow, steady movements, she brought the machine closer to Beka, until finally, it pressed up against her upper arm. A soft hissing sound was heard immediately afterward, and Rommie withdrew from the bedside quickly.  
  
Dylan stepped closer and towered above her, as if he was waiting for her to wake up and start arguing with him. No one made a move and the silence of the room intensified to a trembling roar in his ears. It was so quiet that the man would have sworn that the panicked beating of his heart had been audible to everyone else present.  
  
As if in slow motion, the dark eyelashes of the woman twitched. It was such a small movement that Dylan wasn't sure if he had imagined it or it had really happened. But then, the emerald-blue pale irises of Beka Valentine's pale eyes were revealed to the galaxy for the first time in quite a while.  
  
Her eyes gradually adjusted to the light level and she quietly took in the scene around her. She recognized the medical bay almost immediately… the flashing screens… the vital signs displays… the monitoring systems… Yes, she knew it well. She had been in there often enough – usually to visit Harper, though… not as a patient. Her eyes moved to Dylan and a faint smile flickered across her face, reaching up past her lips and extending into her eyes. But a moment later, she shifted her gaze to the rest of the room… She was searching for something… Someone… "Dylan?" she managed to force out through sore and tender vocal chords…  
  
He reached out and patted her hand with his fingertips, smiling down at her. "Surprised?"  
  
"You could… you could say that." A wry smile appeared on her face and she managed to turn her head to look around the at the rest room… "The others?"  
  
Dylan's smile faded. "Shhh… You shouldn't talk so much. You just went through a lot…"  
  
Beka pulled her hand out from under his and painfully forced herself up into a half-sitting position, leaving her legs stretched out before her and resting her weight on her elbows. "Where are they?" she insisted, her voice hoarse and desperate. …If he said that they were… that they were… …She didn't know what she'd do…  
  
He moved off to the side quietly, allowing Beka to have an unobstructed view of the rest of the Medical Bay.  
  
Trance skipped out from the back room and into view with Harper following close behind her. She seemed to be back to her perky self… All bouncy and hyper… It made Beka smile. …And Harper looked like he was doing well, too… Thank the Divine… …Woah… Had Beka just thought that?  
  
"Hi, Beka!" Trance chirped softly, bringing her hands up to brush some hair from her eyes, and Harper's arm dropped to his side. Valentine nearly chuckled when she realized that Harper and Trance had been holding hands… How cute! "Are you feeling better yet?"  
  
She was so happy to see the two of them alive that she forgot all about herself, and she had to pause a moment to think about her answer. "I…I feel… alive…"  
  
"That's always a good thing," Harper added with a sarcastic, yet slightly worried, smile.  
  
"Yes," Rev agreed, then slowly drifted into view and stood beside Trance.  
  
They were all back together again. The four of them… Just like it had been before they'd even known about the Andromeda… Even though Beka cared about the Andromeda and Dylan and… well, anyway… Even though she cared a lot about them, she would always be more comfortable and happy around Trance, Rev, and Harper. They had been as close as family for so many years that her relationship with the Andromeda and Dylan couldn't even compare at that point…  
  
…But…how? The last thing she remembered was being attacked by Nietzcheans…and Rev hadn't known where Trance and Harper were – or even if they were alive! …So…how was it that they were now aboard the Andromeda again? …It didn't make sense…  
  
Dylan smiled and seemed to guess her thoughtful question from her facial expressions. "Rommie told me what you were up to… and when you were away longer than you should have been, we came looking for you."  
  
"But… we were underwater…" Beka made a face. "Or were we? …I can't really remember…"  
  
"Yeah, we were," Trance chimed quietly, smiling. "Very, very deep underwater. And sinking! You can't forget that part!"  
  
"It was amazing, Boss! The Regarian ship attached cables to the Maru's hull and pulled her to the surface—"  
  
"After receiving an urgent message from the Andromeda," Rommie cut in with a wry grin.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Harper agreed, caught up in explaining thing to Beka. He paused briefly to smile at Trance as she giggled at him. "Anyway, those guys pumped the water out of the ship…and fixed her up and everything! All in under five hours! I bet they had twenty engineers working out there at once!"  
  
Trance shook her head at him, and then turned back to Beka and her smile faded to a small hint of a smile. "They got you out of there immediately after they got the ship up above water… and they spent hours working on you." She smiled at Rev reassuringly. "If Rev hadn't given you that stimulant when he did, there would have been nothing they could have done…"  
  
Dylan stood by and watched them tell Beka about the events leading to their rescue with a half smile plastered across his face.  
  
A…stimulant? Ew… No wonder she felt so weird. …Okay, okay! It was probably JUST her imagination, but still! "That… doesn't explain the two of you," Beka pointed out, looking at Trance and Harper curiously.  
  
Harper put an arm around Trance's waist and pulled her a little bit closer …a motion that was not overlooked by Beka. "Trance went down to engineering to help me… and…well, we ended up getting trapped in one of those old smuggling compartments from way back by a flood of water… BOSS! Don't look at me like that! …It was either head in there or drown – and I would think you wouldn't want to loose the resident super genius to a little water!"  
  
Beka just stared at him with a blank sort of mocking expression. "Uh-huh. Whatever. …Go on…"  
  
Harper swallowed loudly and let go of Trance, backing off a little. Gosh! Would no one believe him? Agh!  
  
"Well, ummm… we were trapped in there for a very long time, we fell asleep, and the next thing we knew, the Regarians had drained the water from the engine room and were looking for us," Trance explained simply, fidgeting a little bit because Harper wasn't close by any more and that made her nervous.  
  
"And if I recall correctly, they found Mr. Harper holding Trance in his lap, sleeping," Dylan added, grinning.  
  
"You are correct," Rommie said, backing up the statement with a knowing grin toward the two of them.  
  
Beka smirked and the little Purple One blushed a deep purple… She was caught off guard by that, but she felt the need to reply, so she said softly, "Well…It was umm… cold…and we were both warmer that way… so… Okay, ummm… I'm going to be quiet now…" She got more and more embarrassed as she spoke, and ended up nervously scampering away.  
  
Harper was blushing slightly too, but he glared at Dylan and Rommie when Trance left and started after her, calling, "Trance, they were just teasing!"  
  
The two of them disappeared from sight and the four who remained on Med. Deck grinned at each other. Dylan chuckled and shook his head, then returned his attention to Beka, who was still grinning widely. "You should get some rest."  
  
Beka groaned. She was tired. Very tired. "Aye, aye, sir," she said with a shadow of her usual sarcasm.  
  
Rev and Rommie took the hint and left the room quietly, each going on to their own task. Dylan turned to go, but Beka called him back, "Its good to see you smiling again."  
  
His smile widened in return. "Its good to see things looking up again… Thanks to you."  
  
"The …Regarians?"  
  
"That's right," Dylan told her. "They signed the Charter two days ago… Minister Cali said that it was your drive and determination to protect them and your people that convinced them to accept membership… Congratulations."  
  
A smile spread across her face and she beamed through her weakened state. "I didn't do it for the Commonwealth… You are my friend and you needed me. Again."  
  
Dylan Hunt grinned at her choice of words. Now where had he heard that before? "I'll have Trance come check on you soon…" He turned his back to her to go, but stopped when he got to the door. "And Beka?"  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"Thanks… for everything."  
  
  
  
THE END  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Next Week on Andromeda – the Purple Version:  
  
"Simple Shadows" 


End file.
